Third Party Verification Claim

550 Cleveland Avenue North | Saint Paul, MN 55114
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CONSULTANTS
· ENVIRONMENTAL
· GEOTECHNICAL
· MATERIALS
· FORENSICS
November 17, 2020
Mr. John Ruprecht
Clear View Glass Railings
737 Quentin Avenue South
Lakeland, MN 55043
Re: Florida Wind Load Requirements for Wind-Borne Debris Regions, and Considerations for
“Hercules” Glass Guardrail Panel
AET Project #: 05-20608
Dear Mr. Ruprecht,
This letter reports the findings of our review of the Florida Building Code (FBC) wind requirements for
Wind-Borne Regions, as defined by the FBC. We compare these requirements to the published and
tested strength of the Hercules Glass Guardrail Panel, model CVGR 1001 FWP, and provide
conclusions regarding panel design requirements to meet specific portions of the FBC code.
The Florida Building Code (FBC) Section 2407 addresses glass used in handrails and guards; it
specifies materials, loads, support conditions and wind-borne debris regions. According to the FBC and
in compliance with Category II of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and Class A of
ANSI Z97.1, glass used in guardrails must be laminated glass constructed of fully tempered or heat
strengthened glass and tested for its water penetration resistance, wind loading, impact, durability,
thermal properties, and mechanical performance. It is our understanding that the panel is laminated and
fully tempered. Our analysis addresses only the wind loading and impact requirements.
The FBC follows the International Building Code (IBC) requirements for wind loads, with ultimate
(factored) wind speeds up to 180 mph; this is significantly higher than most areas within the United
States. See the attached reference maps for determining the nominal ground wind speed from the
Florida Building Code.
Our analysis converted the 180 mph required factored wind speed into a stress, using accepted analysis
techniques, then compared this to the published (and tested) capacity of the panels. The American
Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Standard 7-10, Chapter 29, provides the analysis method to convert
wind speed (in mph) to pressure (in psf). Using Exposure Category C (open terrain) and a height of 100
feet above ground, a 180 mph factored wind produces a calculated pressure of 54 psf. This was plugged
into a finite element model (FEM), using Risa-3D software (version 10.0.1), that models the 60” x 39”
x 13mm tempered and laminated panels, supported on three “spigot” supports. The model generated a
5,500 psi principal axis stress (s) in the panel.